Academic
VisualAnalysis
Free Software for Teaching
VisualAnalysis is a great tool for teaching many structural analysis
and design concepts or visualizing structural behavior. It is available
to any university or college in the USA and Canada, at no cost,
for installation on any department or student labs machines. Learn
more about the features available in VisualAnalysis.

Getting Started
- Register Your Department: Use the
Educational Order Form to register.
(Just one faculty member per department need register, all may
use the software!) We will verify your status at the university.
- Install the Software: You will receive
emailed download instructions and licensing information.
You may install on any faculty, research or student lab machines--essentially
any university-owned machine.
- Learn VisualAnalysis: The product
is very easy to use, written for
students (originally) and comes with a Help File, Quick Start
tutorials and examples. See the
VisualAnalysis.edu tab for
more details.
- Start Teaching! Use VisualAnalysis for
research, teaching, student labs, assignments, demonstrations,
or special projects. Students may use the software on university
owned machines for free.
Ways to Use VisualAnalysis at School
- Demonstrate of the Process of Structural
Analysis
- Visualize Structural Behavior
- Compare Modeling Assumptions Side-by-Side
- Create Dynamic Presentations (Animated
Graphics)
- Have Students Check their Hand Calculations
- Get Results to use in Manual Design Procedures
- Explore the Limits of 1st Order Theory
- Investigate Dynamics, P-Delta, or Plastic
Modeling
- Solve Full-Size Buildings in a "Systems
Engineering" Class
- Introduce Architectural Students to the
"Art of Engineering"
- Provide Numbers for a Design Class
- Validate or Create Lab
Experiments
- Develop Exam Questions
- Research Advanced Analysis or Optimization
Techniques
Student Licenses
Free Student Level Product
Students may freely access the university
licensed level of VisualAnalysis on any school-owned machine, using
school's license and product level.
Students may also download and use the Free Student
VisualAnalysis level on their own personal machines, with
a license key provided by their professor. The Free student
version has a more limited set of features
than the School Level version.
School Level Product
We optionally sell the School VisualAnalysis level software to
students who need the full power of the school version for use on
a personal machine. This is sold for less than the cost of
most textbooks. (Read more about student
licenses here.)
Consulting Licenses
The educational version of VisualAnalysis is for educational
purposes only. For consulting work you should purchase
a commercial license of our latest VisualAnalysis
product.
I.T. Information
Installing VisualAnalysis on campus is easy and flexible, the
licensing terms are practical, and IES offers free email technical
support for university faculty and staff
members installing the product and dealing with any problems.
Installing for All Users
When installing the School level VisualAnalysis under an administrative account,
where the software will be used with other login accounts, please
follow these instructions:
- Login under your admin account.
(If not installed yet,
Right-click on setup-va7-edu.exe and choose
Run As Administrator to install.)
- Right-click on the VisualAnalysis Edu 7.0
icon on the desktop (or start menu)
- Choose “Run As Administrator”
- When prompted for the license key, enter your school name
and key provided to you.
- When prompted to install for all users, answer Yes.
Foreign Schools
Schools outside the USA and Canada do not have access to the
free educational VisualAnalysis version, but you may purchase single-user
licenses of the School level product.